A circuit arrangement of this type is disclosed for example in the international patent application with the publication number WO 98/18297. This laid-open specification describes a circuit arrangement for the high-frequency operation of a high-pressure discharge lamp, that is to say for operating the high-pressure discharge lamp on an alternating voltage at a frequency above 200 kHz and preferably even above 500 kHz. The circuit arrangement has a voltage converter which generates a high-frequency alternating voltage at its output. The output of this voltage converter is formed by the two secondary windings of a transformer. The first secondary winding is connected into a load circuit which is designed as a series resonant circuit and is provided with the lamp terminals, while the second secondary winding is connected to the voltage input of a starter. The starter is a pulse starter, which applies unipolar high-voltage pulses to the high-pressure discharge lamp during the starting phase by means of an auxiliary starting electrode. In the case of lamp operation with high alternating voltage frequencies of this type, it is difficult to generate the necessary starting voltage for the high-pressure discharge lamp with the aid of a Tesla transformer, since the secondary windings of the transformer must have only a low inductance at such high frequencies--because of their otherwise excessively high internal impedance and the inadequately low transfer of power which results from this.